Andrew Miller/The Times of TrentonCoach Tommy Dempsey is hoping to bring Rider to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Tommy Dempsey knows the numbers and the history.

Since he took over six years ago as coach at Rider, he’s built the Lawrenceville school into a perennial contender in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He’s had good teams, an NBA lottery pick and consistently one of the best offensive teams in the league. It’s a résumé of a championship program.
Except it hasn’t been.

“A lot of it is a credit to the league,” Dempsey said recently. “Just because we’ve had some very good teams, it seems like there’s just somebody that’s been a little bit better, to be honest.

“All we can do is worry about ourselves. When we started this, it was battling it out with Siena. Now we’re battling with Iona and Fairfield. But we’ve really been the one constant through the past several years.”

He’s right. Over the past six seasons in the MAAC, it’s been Siena that has compiled the best record at 125-69. The Saints won the conference and the conference championship three times between 2007 and 2010. Twice they advanced out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The team with the second-best record over that time? Rider.

But while four schools — Iona, Niagara, Siena and Saint Peter’s — have gone to the Big Dance, Rider has been on the outside looking in. At 106-87, the Broncs have had the successes of other teams in the league, with one glaring exception: an NCAA Tournament bid.

“When you play in a league that’s predominantly a one-bid league, if you don’t get to the NCAA Tournament, you can become a little under-appreciated at times,” Dempsey said. “And we understand that. But all we can do is control our program and keep putting good product on the court, year in and year out. And hopefully find one of those magic years and make the tournament.”

Last year, the Broncs endured another crushing, abrupt end to their season in the semifinals of the MAAC championships, losing to Iona. Once again, a 20-win season and a top-three finish in the league was an empty feeling. Rider has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1994, when it was a member of the Northeast Conference.

But if you think Dempsey and his team are sitting inside of Alumni Gym and moping about another lost season, think again. The Broncs, who open their season Friday night at Robert Morris, are gunning for that elusive title all right, but not letting it consume them.

“We really try not to dwell on that,” he said. “We’re moving forward with another team that’s expecting to be a good team this year and we’ll see what happens in March.”

What’s fueling Dempsey’s optimism this year? The fact that he has a core of upperclassmen, something that tends to be a determining factor in the MAAC.

Joining star guard Novar Gadson and forward Brandon Penn is 6-4 guard Jeff Jones, a transfer from Virginia who sat out last season. It’s another sign that the Broncs are continuing to establish a formidable pedigree.

“I think we’ve created a buzz a little bit, the last couple of years,” Dempsey said. “Winning, our style of play — it’s a style kids like — and having a guy like Jason Thompson, who’s a lottery pick, turns some heads. In this day and age, you have to make it ‘cool’ to go someplace. And it’s become a little more ‘cool’ to go to Rider than it was years ago.”

Now the only thing that remains is clearing that final hurdle.

“We’ve had good teams and we’ve had good players,” Dempsey said. “But I think these guys are trying to accomplish something that we weren’t able to do in the past. And that’s take that final step and get to an NCAA Tournament.”

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RIDERLast season: 23-11 (13-5 in MAAC)Season opener: Friday at Robert Morris, 7 p.m.
The Broncs are hopeful for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994. In addition to the debut of transfer guard Jeff Jones, who averaged 6.3 points over three seasons with Virginia, the development of forward Brandon Penn will be key. Still, it won’t be easy to replace play-making PG Justin Robinson and Mike Ringgold, who carried Rider down the stretch last year.Key player:Novar Gadson, G, Senior
One of the most talented players in the league, Gadson put up five 20-plus-point games last season. He needs to become more consistent, which will free up the offense.